Streaks of Holly Blue
by Megan McAlistair
Summary: Valkyrie feels bad after Skulduggery is gone. But fortunately she has a good friend at her disposal to cheer her up.
1. Dry Wings

A/N: This will be a two-shot. I'll write the other chapter tomorrow.

Disclaimer: None of the characters are mine. They all belong to Derek Landy (god bless him)

Val's POV

I didn't knwo why I was so desperate. Ghastly took it with pride. Tanith was a bit less talkative but otherwise okay. Though the lack of talking was probably a result of me not answering. I was still angry about Guild. He was a real prick. But the anger wasn't bad. It was more like a streak of red on a grey, dull sea, quickly drowned. For two days I had been totally apathic. Fletcher had even painted my face black with face-paint to get me to react. It had been no use. I had been no use. I couldn't do anything when Skulduggery got dragged into the other reality. I looked at myself in the mirror. I was at Gordon's house, my reflection still living my life. It was still black. Originally I had com to the bathroom to finally wash it off but I had gotten distracted. I looked back at the distraction. It was a butterfly. A Holly Blue as far as I remembered. It sat just outside on the windowsill, one leg at the glass. It seemed to look at me. I knew they were rare. But frankly I didn't care. But it seemed to care for me. It was still there, slightly waving its antennae. An image of perfect stillness and beauty. Now that I thought back on it I couldn't imagine why I would ever have called China Sorrows beautiful. She was graceful and pretty, but not beautiful. Bauty required pureness, a virtue she didn't have. She had lost her brother on the battlefield. Bliss had been great. I was still afraid of him. Although he was dead and although I had been trained so much. But my training wasn't enough apparently. Not enough to prevent Skulduggery from being dragged away back then. Not enough to prevent myself from falling now. I was like a butterfly. Freshly hatched from my cocoon I still hung on the branch and dried my wings. I couldn't fly, I couldn't. He could. He showd me how I would do it once I was ready. He had brought me into this wonderful world of airflows and glistening drops of morning dew. I had leaned too far off my branch and fallen over. He had caught my like the big birdwing he was. He had taught me flapping, but my wings still weren't dried out. The giant Palawan Birdwing above me I had felt safe. But now he was gone and I was falling towards the ground. Slowed down by my wings but not saved by them. Skulduggery had introduced me to magic. He had been my teacher, my mentor, my friend, my secure haven, someone I could hold onto until I had the power to stand for myself. But now he was gone. Just gone. Not even with the wind but with creepy, cruel and violent faceless ones. I was falling, there was nothing I could do. Tanith had returned to London. She couldn't catch me. Ghastly wasn't here either, he couldn't catch me. I lay my fingertip on the glass where the butterfly's leg was. It was stil swaying it's feelers. Up and down, up and down, like a heartbeat only softer. It was soothing, looking at it. It was so fragile. So breakable. So beautiful. I wanted to touch it. But it was like my emotional strength. I couldn't reach it through the glass and if I were to open the window just so slightly, the Holly Blue would fly away. Or, in the worst case, get smashed.

I sighed. When inhaling, the scent of the paint became prominent once again. Right, I had wanted to wash it off. I turned on the water and started rubbing it off. I watched the streaks of black disappear in the outflow. It was fascinating. They would go a half circle then fall off the edge. Was I going to fall off an edge, too? No, I already did. I looked in the mirror once again. My cheeks were still grey. I rubbed some more on them. Finally my face was clean again, though a bit pink from the rubbing. I turned around to look at the butterfly once again.

It was gone.


	2. A Boat in the Waves

A/N: Okay, I decided to make this a hat trick. 1. The Hurt, 2. The Comforter, 3. The Comfort

Still not mine though.

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FPOV

I was in the living room and pretended to read a magazine. It was a girl's magazine. Tanith had told me she brought it over once to add a bit „feminine touch" to the mansion, as it was legally Valkyrie's now. I really just looked at the jokes, which weren't funny, and the Hot-and-Flops, which weren't right. Every guy liked chokers. There was real tension when you could finally remove them, slightly kissing the neck of the girl. Yes, despite what my friends, namely Skulduggery, Ghastly, Tanith and Valkyrie, thought I had had many girlfriends before. Even very intimate relationships. But with all the willing girls in the clubs it wasn't really hard for anyone to get a girl. Especially not for me. I admired Tanith, she was really great. But I didn't want to get romantically involved with her. From the first moment on I had known she could be a great pal, not necessarily to me but to someone. I just played dumb and obnoxious most of the time. Though sometimes, I had to admit, I really was like that. Val had gone for the bathroom to wash her face, finally. I had tried for so long to get her to react to me and not just stare off into the middle distance. Like that roman guy from „Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian". I had watched that movie yesterday night. Val had been asleep soundly on the couch where she had curled up much earlier. I heard the shower. So she had decided to take a shower. What I had found odd was the long silence before she had started washing the paint off her face.

What had she been doing?

Laying on the floor unconsciously?

Staring at the wall?

Planning her suicide?

I frowned. Val wouldn't kill herself. She was much too strong for that. That was why she was so struck down now. She took all the pain at once so she could be strong afterwards. She would be her old shining self if not brighter. She would slap me on the shoulder and punch me in the guts whenever I did something stupid. She meant it playfully, though it actually hurt. Of course I would never admit that. She was pretty strong considering her age and gender. I had to work out more if I planned on surviving the gut-punches. I had tested myself wheter I held any romantic feelings for Val. It was really easy, especially right now. I thought of her, naked and soaking wet in the shower. No tingling sensation in my abdomen, ergo no romantic feelings. It really was that easy. She was a friend, no more, but no less either. I smiled. I put down the magazine. Tanith had given me a few tips on my magic. Mostly for concentrating and one about feeling it stream through me. It was really helpfull.

I teleported to the edge of the cliff where I had brought one of my dates. She had been brunette and blue-eyed. And nasty, I didn't dread parting from her in the morning. It was a precision exercise for me. You know, not accidentally teleporting myself off the cliff. I knew it was dangerous but if I really fell I was always prepared to teleport myself off everytime quickly. I trained that one. Very early really. It was the first thing I ever really trained. The sea was stormy this afternoon. It was very relaxing.

As I looked out on the waves I noticed a small boat. It had ripped off the bay apparently as nobody was on it. I smirked and looked for possible audience, I cared for that now. Nobody was there. This would be one hell of a precision exercise. I stared at the boat, feeling the streams of space, as I called it. Within miliseconds I was on the small boat. It swayed but stayed steady. I smirked and threw my fist into the air like a true badass.

I teleported back to the house. I heard the shower going. It was probably a good idea. But she hadn't considered that there was no big enough towel in there. I sighed and went to get one from the drawer. I knocked at the door. „Val, you'll need a towel, I'll put it in front of the door", I shouted. No answere.

No sign that she had heard. No sign at all.


	3. The Genius, the Beauty and the Tower

A/N: So this is the end, the second story I ever finished. Be honored. I hope you liked it, R&R as always.

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VPOV

„Val, you'll need a towel, I'll put it in front of the door", he shouted through the door. I hadn't noticed there was none in the room. I smiled. Never go anywhere without your towel. I had to grin, despite my sadness. He was so caring. The water ran down my spine. I felt cold. Very cold. It was summer outside. The water wasn't even lukewarm either. Still I was freezing. My fingertips felt numb, my shoulders were hunched and I trembled a bit.

What was that?

Was that an elemental's mourning?

Or did everybody feel that way when they lost the power to keep their head above the water?

Then why didn't all the authors and music-makers describe it like that?

Maybe it felt different for everyone. Or they didn't want others to experience it when they didn't have to. I felt cold. My attempt to warm my fingers on my abdomen or throat failed as every part of my body was equally cold. I tried to bite back the tears but it didn't work. I turned off the water, as I was done showering. Tears streamed down my face. They were incredibly hot. Burning through the flesh of my cheeks. But I couldn't wipe them away. I was afraid this last bit of warmth would go away. Afraid that my heart would stop beating if I got too cold. It felt like it was going slower anyway. I was horripilating. Goose bumps didn't sound bad enough. I had just learned that word in biology.

Horripilation, piloerection, pilomotor reflex, cutis anserina, goose bumps.

No, I hadn't learned that word.

My reflection had.

I just pretended it was me. And my parents didn't know. They sensed something was wrong, deep in their hearts they knew.

I couldn't fool them.

It couldn't fool them.

I sighed. The tears had stopped. I stepped out of the shower, numb from the cold. I opened the door a bit and reached for the towel. My movements were automatic, as if programmed. Like I was hooked into a machine. The towel was warm and soft. It felt like the most wonderful thing on earth. I quickly dried myself and wrapped my icy body in it. I opened the door. Fletcher was there, on the couch, staring at the wall. He heard me and looked at me now. I could see from here that he blushed a bit and lowered his head instantly. I almost smiled. I walked over to him. I needed him now. I saw his mobile phone next to him. I sat down at his other side and without warning hugged him. It was more survival instinct than everything else. He was warm, warmer than the towel, warmer than the tears. He was dumbfounded at first but soon hugged me back.

„Shhh, don't cry. Everything will be allright", he tried to soothe my.

I hadn't noticed that I was crying again. His warmth had covered everything up.

„You are so warm."

My voice was muffled by his shirt but I didn't care. He didn't seem to care either. He just gently patted my back. His heat was engulfing me, penetrating me. My heart started beating faster. Finally I was warm again. But I was still shivering. After all I was wet and hadn't put on decent clothing yet.

„Let's get you some clothes."

„Did you read my mind?"

He smiled and stood up. I stood up with him, not certain what he was planning. He took my hand and we teleported. I recognized my room immediately. My reflection sat at the desk and didn't even look at us, it was probably doing some homework.

„I called earlier to make sure your parents weren't home. I'll go downstairs while you can redress", he suggested. That was very thoughtful of him.

„Thanks."

Though most of the time I tried to make myself think he was an idiot, he really wasn't. Right now he was a genius. The greatest genius in the world. Someone else had had that place until recently. But he wasn't in this world at the moment. Yes, at the moment. I would find a way to get him back. And I would get help from my friends. The genius, the most beautiful girl in the world, the most reliable person on earth and maybe China. I grinned. Tanith was really more beautiful than China. Beauty came from within. As did strength. I had strength. I had power. I had the power to get through this.

I just needed a plan. I would be desperate until I got one, yes I would. Desperate but not without all hope. I quickly redressed. „Hey, genius, let's go for a walk", I shouted downstairs.

Despite the choice of words it was genuine, and it sounded that way, too.

As soon as I had a plan that would change.

As soon as I had a plan I would be mocking him again.

As soon as I had a plan.


End file.
